


Free Hugs

by SleepingReader



Series: Iron Meow - A tale of two kitties [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Consensual Hugging, Does not follow Iron Meow Canon in chapter 2, Fix-It, Gen, Hugging, Hugs, Peter Parker is a Good Bro, SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME IN CHAPTER 2, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Thor gives the best hugs, Touch-Starved Tony Stark (mentioned), free hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2019-05-08 00:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14682882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingReader/pseuds/SleepingReader
Summary: Thor offers Sam a hug.Sam makes Thor a 'Free Hugs' T-shirt.Thor has had 1500 years of practising hugs.'Nuff said.*** SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME IN THE SECOND CHAPTER ***





	1. Free Hugs

‘Thor. What. Are you wearing?’ Tony asked him a week after the Infinity War had ended, and everyone had started to get back on their feet.  
’This is a t-shirt.’ Thor stated.  
‘Yeah, I can see that it’s a t-shirt, but why the hell are you offering ‘free hugs’?’  
‘People need it. It is satisfying for them and for me.’ Thor simply told him.  
Sam had given it to him as a joke after Thor offered to hug him. Thor himself didn’t think twice about the t-shirt. After all, the time after battles was a time of rest, good food and a proper hug for the ones who needed it. That these petty humans had the strict ‘No Homo’ rule was beyond him. Why not hug a brother in arms?  
Thor held his arms out to Tony a little, but he just sort of laughed and backed off. Thor shrugged. Some people didn’t want hugs, and that was alright too.

‘Hey, Tony, have you seen my-‘ Peter said as he walked in and then stopped to look at Thor. ‘You’re doing free hugs?’  
‘Yes!’ Thor said happily. ‘I believe it is a common practise on Earth, but I have yet to give my first ‘Free Hug’.’ Thor held out his arms to Peter, smiling brightly.  
‘What? Oh, yeah. Sure.’ Peter said. He wasn’t about to turn down a hug from Thor. Or any hug for that matter. He had _died_ , you know. Peter stepped forward a little, holding his arms out, and was immediately swept up by Thor in…  
A surprisingly nice hug. A very nice hug. Peter felt his whole body relax. Thor hugged like a long-lost brother. Kind of makes sense, Peter mused. 1500 years of fighting and living’s gotta make someone very, _very_ good at hugging. Thor seemed to relax a little, too, and set Peter down again when he felt they were done.  
He lay a large hand on the teenagers shoulder.  
‘Thank you, Peter,’ Thor said in what Tony always called his “Noble King Voice”. ‘I shall now go and find more people to hug!’ He said brightly, as if he were going on a sacred quest. He clapped Peter on the shoulder again, nodded to Tony and strolled out of the room. Dum-E wheeled after him and got a hug as well. 

‘You didn’t get hugged by Thor?’ Peter asked Tony, who was smirking at a very content Dum-E.  
‘That good, huh?’  
‘Well, yeah.’ Peter said. ‘No free hugs for you?’  
‘Wha? No. No, I don’t “do” hugging.’  
‘But you hug me all the time!’  
‘Yeah, kid. Cause _you_ need it.’  
‘Liar.’ Peter said softly.  
‘Hey!’ 

 

Thor passed Clint in a hallway. Clint took one look at Thor’s shirt, and then opened his arms. Thor happily returned the gesture, and Clint almost disappeared. Natasha walked by, followed by Sam and Steve.  
‘You wearing the t-shirt?’ Sam asked. Thor nodded.  
‘Not even gonna ask.’ Natasha said.  
‘Fuck you, ‘Tasha. I stay here, is _nice_ ’ Clint said in a muffled but happy voice, glaring at her over Thor’s shoulder and clutching the Asgardian tighter. Thor made no effort to put him down either, so he stayed there for a while. When he finally let go, Clint felt a lot better.  
‘’Tasha, you gotta try this.’ He said. ‘It feels like standing under the waterfall in the swimming pool.’

Thor smiled at Natasha, and she sighed softly, but also inclined her head slightly. He picked her up, hugging her and spinning her around a little. When he finally set her down and went on in search of Sam and Steve, Natasha looked Clint in the eye. She rolled her eyes.  
‘Fine, he hugs like you were falling through the galaxy and he caught you.’  
‘I KNOW!’ Clint yelled, way too loud. 

Thor found Sam and Steve sitting around the coffee table, both reading trashy magazines and pointing out funny articles to each other.  
‘Captain America leaves Winter Soldier for fellow avenger Iron Man.’ Sam read out. Steve shrugged. ‘They said that last week, too. Boring. This one’s good: ‘Black Widow secretly a rock star: More on page seven. Oh, hey, Thor.’  
‘Nice shirt.’ Sam told him, grinning.  
‘It is working!’ Thor told him happily. If he knew Sam was being sarcastic, he didn’t show it. ‘Would any of you like a ‘Free Hug?’  
Sam and Steve both hesitated. But Wanda came into the room, took one look at Thor’s t-shirt and practically jumped into his hug.  
‘You Americans.’ She chuckled as she was held. ‘You are all touch-starved but still don’t want hugs.’  
Thor held her tightly, and she may have cried a little because her grief over Vision was still very fresh, and Thor hugged almost exactly like Pietro had done. When they parted, she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. ‘Thank you.’ She said, and walked to the teakettle, wiping her eyes. 

Steve stood up and walked over. ‘Better take ya up on that, then.’ He said, hugging Thor. Thor hugged him back, and Steve visibly relaxed from a hold that was as strong as his own. Apparently Thor somehow knew every hugging need from every person, and was thus able to give the best hugs. To Steve, it felt like being hugged by a father after so many years of being alone. Steve decided he should probably hug people more, if hugs were so freely given.

Sam refused at first, but Steve insisted. ‘Try it.’ He said in his ‘Honestly this is the best thing ever’ voice, and Sam got curious. It was a short hug, but in the end, Sam somehow felt good about his life again. He muttered something that only Steve could hear.  
‘You’re right…’ Steve said. ‘He does hug like you just found twenty bucks on the floor in front of a candy shop.’  
Wanda smiled. Thor grinned, and clapped Sam on the shoulder, making Sam’s elbow fall off the table.  
Thor walked on. 

The visiting T’Challa politely refused the hug, but Okoye accepted it. When telling a very jealous Shuri about it afterwards, she told her it was like ‘cuddling a lion’. 

After he had received a hug from Thor, Bucky told Steve it was like ‘smelling baking bread early in the morning.’ But also ‘like hugging you, but you’re made of sunshine instead of sass’.

In his lab, Bruce was surprised to get a visit from Thor. He already knew the magic power of the Asgardian’s hug but still gladly accepted one.  
The two men broke apart and Thor turned to walk on.  
‘Wait!’ Bruce said. A nudge in his mind had told him something. ‘Seriously? Alright then.’  
He transformed into the Hulk, and the Hulk got a hug, too. 

Rhodey sat in his wheelchair this day, since his legs had hurt the previous one. Thor hugged him anyway, crouching down to Rhodey’s level.  
‘Whoa, man. You can make a charity out of this.’ Rhodey said after Thor had hugged him.  
Thor thought this was an excellent idea. 

‘I’m going out on the street, to hug more people!’ He said when they were finished with their late lunch.  
‘Actually, I’d like in on this, if you don’t mind,’ Peter said. ‘If you wait a minute, I’ll have a shirt, too.’  
‘Make me one, too!’ Steve called. Clint yelled from the other side of the room that he wanted one too.  
‘Ew, why?’ Tony said. ‘And get groped on the street?’ He said.  
The rest conceded that Tony did have a point, but also that he desperately needed a hug himself. 

Bets were placed on how long Tony would last. Peter and Wanda both got very good odds, but like Steve said ‘There’s no way he’s going to last _that_ long.’  
Of course, having bets placed on him and being dared a couple of times, Tony got peer-pressured into it. Eventually he did agree to hug Thor. ‘But no groping!’ He told him jokingly, before being enveloped by Thor’s arms. Tony let out a little squeak, but, to no one’s surprise but his own, relaxed immediately.  
When they parted, most money was given to Wanda and Peter, who had both gone for ‘full two minutes.’ (Wanda had seen Tony’s mind, and Peter just knew Tony was enormously touch-starved but too proud to do anything about it.)  
(When Tony told the story to Pepper later, he said being hugged by Thor was ‘Like sticking your hand in a bag full of grain, you know?’. He also told Pepper that hugging her was like ‘Coming home’  
Pepper herself found that hugging Thor was ‘like waking up before your alarm and still being able to sleep’. Tony told her that was an even better comparison than the one he just made.)

In the end, most Avengers agreed to join in the ‘hug parade’ as Clint called it. He, Wanda, Peter, Steve and Bruce opted for ‘Free Hugs’ t-shirts, while Natasha, Bucky, Tony and Sam chose ‘If you can read this, you can hug me’ signs to show anyone at will. T’Challa gently refused again, not being much of a hugger. Rhodey’s legs hurt, so he preferred to sit this one out, and do the hug round next time.  
The remaining Avengers suited up, both to protect Spider-Man’s identity and to make themselves more recognisable in the public. They wore their various t-shirts and signs over their outfits. 

In short, it was a massive success: 

Steve was mostly approached by older people, who wanted to truly thank him for all he had done. He didn’t sign anything, but was more than happy to take selfies and photos. Bucky was surprised that he got dragged into frame a lot as well. 

Natasha was approached by a little girl and her even littler sister, and immediately held up her sign. The two children collapsed in her arms, and she felt her face go soft. After that, she was most popular with children, always having at least five queuing up for a hug. She hugged some mothers, too. That night, she signed up to visit some elementary schools. Maybe she’d teach the kids some ballet. 

Clint and Wanda were hugged by anyone who got close, proving themselves good huggers and good comforters in general. Wanda saw her missing loved one’s in a lot of faces, but a solid hug from Clint had her going strong again.

Tony hugged more times than he expected, but eventually had to bow out thanks to overstimulation. No hugs could beat Pepper’s anyway, he thought as he passed on his (signed) sign to a happy teenager.

Spider-Man hugged mostly young children and teens, who still knew about the Manhattan Elevator Accident. He found out that hugging strangers made him happy, as long as he could wear his mask. To his enormous surprise, he found Aunt May in the crowd. He singled her out and she got the biggest hug of them all. 

Sam found that most people were more interested in touching the wings of his suit, so he crouched down to kid-level so a little black girl could marvel at the feathers. He spotted a miniature Falcon in the crowd, and immediately became the subject of a impromptu photo shoot. 

Bruce hugged people, but then the Hulk decided he wanted part of the fun, too, so the second half of the two hours they were outside, Hulk was found sitting on the sidewalk while children clambered over him, laughing. 

And Thor? Thor was the subject and cause of the headline the next morning, when the newspapers reported the biggest group hug of all time had been held in New York and recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.


	2. Brothers in arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for Endgame.

He didn’t end up leaving with the Guardians.  
At the very last moment, he saw a kid on the tarmac. A kid he had fought beside, who had been just as excited to do ‘Get Help’ as Thor always had been. A kid who lost so much already. Father figures, mothers, friends. He was staring up at the spaceship as it rose to the heavens. He was waving. He was wearing a white piece of fabric with text on it. And just before the kid faded from view, Thor could make out the text.  
Peter Parker was wearing a ‘free hugs’ t-shirt over his suit.

‘STOP.’ Thor barked at Quill. ‘Take me down.’  
Quill seemed a little too happy about this. Rocket didn’t understand.  
‘What’s happenin’?’ He asked.  
‘I have a little brother.’ Thor wasted no more time, jumping from the ship with a last ‘Goodbye rabbit’ over his shoulder.

——

Peter’s eyes were still blurry from the tears of losing Tony. Of losing Natasha. Of losing more than he had bargained for. He knew that Thor needed time and space and probably more than any infinity stone could ever give him. He just hoped Thor would come and visit. Maybe they’d get to do ‘Get Help’ one last time. Maybe they’d have one more day of fanmail. One more lunch on top of a large building, like the one they had before this thing even started, when Thor got bored and Peter got chicken nuggets.  
As if it was listening to Peter’s thoughts, the spaceship stopped.

Thor landed on the tarmac with a SMASH and a bolt of lightning. He dropped his axe which split the tarmac in two. Then he strode over to Peter and enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug. Peter crushed his bones right back.  
Thor was reminded of the hugs the Warriors Three would give him when they were victorious. Happy, but grieving for the dead.  
In short, Peter hugged like a brother, who had gone through the exact same thing he had. They broke apart, and Peter sniffled. He wiped a tear away.  
‘You once told me that the time after battles is the time of rest, good food and a proper hug for the ones that need it.’ He told Thor.  
‘I… forgot.’ Thor said. Peter shook his head.  
‘You forgot this.’ He said, and handed Thor the scrap of fabric he had been holding. Thor held it up.  
‘May washed it.’ Peter told him with a small smile. ‘And I sewed it up.’  
Thor’s Free Hugs t-shirt was not as whole as it used to me. Rubble had cut into the white fabric, and had been lovingly repaired by a somewhat steady hand. Thor took it from the young kid, no. Young man.  
And Thor broke down crying.  
Peter wordlessly opened his arms again.

It took a while for Thor’s sobs to break down into hiccups, and for him to fall silent.  
‘I cried all over your t-shirt.’ Thor muttered.  
‘I cried over yours, too. May had to wash it twice.’ Peter said, his voice muffled by Thor’s shoulder and hair. For the first time in a while, Thor chuckled. A real chuckle.  
‘What happens now, Peter?’  
‘Right now… You need a shower, buddy.’  
‘Yeah. Yes I do.’

 

Thor winced as the comb caught on a clump of hair. It was untangled by soft fingers.  
‘You don’t have to do this.’ He told the woman brushing his hair.  
‘This is literally my job. Trust me, I’ve seen junkies in a worse state than yours.’ May said.   
In the small house Pepper had bought for Peter and May, Thor’s hair was brushed for the first time in a while. All the clumps of food and grime were combed out. May even gave him a lice check. Then she sent him upstairs to shower. When he protested and went for the liquor cabinet, she gave him such a Look that he was reminded of his mother and immediately went to clean himself up.

When he and his wet hair came down from the shower, he saw May in the kitchen, cheerfully emptying two bottles of wine into the drain. She heard him enter, of course. He looked at it longingly.  
She smiled at him. Brought her body to shield the bottles. He looked at her instead.  
‘You helped bring back my boy.’ She said.  
‘I was useless.’  
‘And you still helped.’ She told him sternly. She crossed over and hugged him.  
She hugged exactly like his own aunt, when she had still been alive.

She led him to the living room, where Peter was busying himself with a lawn chair and a large sheet of plastic. Thor started protesting, but May held up a hand.  
‘Sit down, Thor.’ She told him gently.  
’It’s just… Last time I cut my hair, things didn’t end so well.’  
‘Just the beard then? Pretty sure there’s still egg in there.’ Peter joked. Thor gave a curt nod.

The lawn chair tilted back. Peter went away for a bit, and then came back with a razor set and some scissors.  
‘How did you learn that?’ Thor asked, waving vaguely at Peter’s clean-shaven face.  
‘Tony taught me’ Peter said calmly as he started cutting Thor’s beard to a more manageable size. His voice wasn’t devoid of emotion, but there certainly was some practicality involved.  
When he felt someone fiddle with his hair, Thor looked up to see May holding a couple of strands.  
‘My husband loved vikings. Let me know when it’s too tight.’ She said kindly as she started to braid his hair.

——

Recovery takes a long time. There's crying involved. And anger. And in this particular case, an electrified tree in a field somewhere. There's also denial, and sometimes friends that insist on you going outside.   
But eventually… Things do get better.  
Almost two years later, we get to take a look into their living room again.

_’How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back?_  
There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep, that have taken hold…’  
The soft voice of Frodo Baggins echoed through the living room, where a tall ex-God watched from the couch together with a kid he had so long ago begun to see as a brother.

  
Peter Parker, home from MIT, was watching the movie. Mouthing along to the words he had learned a long time ago. (He felt bad that Morgan couldn't come and see it, but she was still a little too young.)  
Thor watched the movie with tears in his eyes.  
The hobbit was right. There was no going back.  
So he'd just have to move forward.

So when Sam came home to his wife and children and the credits rolled, Thor stood up from the couch.  
‘Be right back.’  
He went over to next-door, where a very gracious Pepper had given him his own house. Sometimes he still felt like he didn’t deserve it. But then again, who would?

Thor caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He would never have the body of a god again. The abs that he had treasured for so long lay in the past. Instead, he now had the body of a strongman. Right in the middle of human and godlike. He grinned at himself, and pulled at his braids, the way a child would do. There was one with five strands interwoven with his own hair. Five strands, each carefully dyed a different color. A sleek black for Loki. A brown interwoven with gold for Heimdall. Pure gold for his mother. Red for Natasha. And dark brown for Tony.

When he came back to Peter and May’s living room, he was wearing a t-shirt.  
It had been torn and mended and washed and washed and washed again until it stopped being the pyjamas he would curl up on the couch and weep in. He showed it to Peter proudly.  
‘Free Hugs’ it stated.  
Peter grinned and jumped up to get his own.

The newspapers read the next day that the Guinness Book of Records had made an amendment for their record of a group hug.  
The current largest ever was now held in Queens.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was started a couple of days after Infinity War ended.  
> Now you can read the chapter I wrote a couple of days after Endgame ended. 
> 
> Because the two are written a year apart, chapter two can be seen as a different timeline, where a lot of the same things happened.


End file.
